Debt Rescue review

Debt Rescue provides debt counselling through NCR-registered debt counsellors. It says founder and CEO Neil Roets has been an NCR-registered debt counsellor since 2008. A counsellor checks whether you are over-indebted, which the NCR defines as income that is not enough to cover all your living expenses and debt repayments. If you are, the counsellor proposes reduced payments to your credit providers.

Debt review does not cancel debt. The NCR says it enables reduced payments from your disposable income without you borrowing more, and that the repayment period may become longer. It is also different from debt consolidation, which the NCR describes as a single loan used to pay off all your debts.

• Debt Rescue says it has more than 18 years of experience in debt review. (debtrescue.co.za)
• Annaline van der Poel is a registered debt counsellor associated with Debt Rescue, registered with the NCR since 2008 under NCRDC595 (also a DCASA member, DCASA 0976). (debtrescue.co.za)
• Founder and CEO Neil Roets has been an NCR-registered debt counsellor since 2008. (debtrescue.co.za)
• Debt Rescue lists six offices: Sandton (head office), Kempton Park, Durban (Umhlanga), Cape Town, Bloemfontein and Pretoria (Lynwood Ridge). (debtrescue.co.za)
• Debt Rescue has a Cape Town office at Touchstone House, 7 Bree Street. (debtrescue.co.za)
• Debt Rescue says debt review typically lasts 3 to 5 years. (debtrescue.co.za)
• Debt Rescue says a debt counselling firm's fees are strictly regulated and built into the monthly repayment plan. (debtrescue.co.za)
• Debt Rescue's legal registered entity name is Debt Rescue (Pty) Ltd, physical address 85 Friedman Road, Kempton Park, tel 086 112 3644. (debtrescue.co.za)
• A WhatsApp contact point is linked from the site (wa.me/27102881892). (debtrescue.co.za)

Fees as Debt Rescue states them on its own website on 30 September 2026. Debt counselling fees are capped by the National Credit Regulator's fee guideline, and the counsellor must give you the fees in writing before you sign.

Sources: debtrescue.co.za, debtrescue.co.za.

Checked on 30 September 2026 against Debt Rescue's official website. Before you sign anything with a debt help firm, confirm the debt counsellor's registration with the National Credit Regulator, and never pay a "removal" or "clearance" fee to someone who contacts you out of the blue.

Sources: debtrescue.co.za, debtrescue.co.za, debtrescue.co.za.

Debt Rescue's website offers an obligation-free quote and an online application. Whichever way you apply, the counsellor should explain the process and its consequences before you sign, give you proof that your application was received, and tell you every fee in writing.

The legal steps are the same at every counsellor. You apply on Form 16 with documents such as your salary slip, your outstanding balances and a list of your credit providers. The counsellor must explain the process and its consequences before you sign, give you proof that your application was received, and disclose all fees in writing.

The counsellor then tells your credit providers and the credit bureaus that you have applied. The application, negotiation and referral to the Magistrate's Court or the National Consumer Tribunal (NCT) should be completed within 60 business days of the date you applied, and during that time you are protected against legal action such as repossession and default judgment. That protection does not reach a credit agreement where the credit provider had already started enforcement steps before you applied.

If all your credit providers accept the counsellor's proposal, it goes to the NCT for a consent order. If one or more decline, it goes to the Magistrate's Court, which holds a hearing and may reject the proposal or make an order restructuring your debts.

You can pay your credit providers directly or through a payment distribution agent (PDA) registered with the NCR, which the NCR does not make compulsory. Never give your counsellor money to pass on to your credit providers, because counsellors are not allowed to collect and distribute it.

Debt Rescue publishes its fees, all excluding VAT. It lists an application fee of R350, a restructuring fee capped at R8,000 for an individual or R9,000 for a joint application, and a monthly after-care fee of 5% of your restructured monthly debt repayment, capped at R450. It says the fees are built into your single monthly instalment and that you do not pay fees separately.

The NCR debt counselling fee guideline lists these fees, before VAT. The application fee of R50 and the administration fee of R300 are paid upfront and in full. The restructuring fee is the distributable amount or R8,000, whichever is lower (R9,000 if you are married in community of property), and is a once-off payment due in month one. The after-care fee is 5% of the distributable amount, up to R450, paid monthly after month two. The distributable amount is the amount payable to your credit providers under the initial plan. The NCR has also listed a reckless lending fee of R1,500, but it gave notice in 2018 that it intended to withdraw that category, so ask why it would apply to you.

Some of this lines up and some does not. The R350 is the same total as the NCR's R50 application fee plus its R300 administration fee, but Debt Rescue's page does not say that and does not list an administration fee. It also says fees are not paid separately, while the guideline treats those two fees as paid upfront and in full. Debt Rescue bases its after-care fee on your restructured monthly repayment, while the guideline uses the distributable amount. Ask Debt Rescue in writing what the R350 covers, when it is due and how the after-care fee is worked out for your plan.

Debt counselling is not free, although the NCR says you should not have to borrow money to pay for it. Ask for a receipt for anything you pay, and get every fee, its Rand amount and its due date in writing before you sign.

Debt Rescue lists a Cape Town office at Touchstone House, 7 Bree Street, and offices in Sandton, Kempton Park, Durban, Bloemfontein and Pretoria. Its website offers an online application. If no office is near you, ask whether your file can be handled remotely before you commit.

We could not find a client login on the Debt Rescue website. To check on your file, use the phone or WhatsApp details on its contact page. Do not follow links in messages you did not ask for.

The website prints one counsellor number, NCRDC595, and the NCR register also lists Neil Roets as NCRDC474, both trading as Debt Rescue. Confirm the name and number of the counsellor who will handle your file. See how to verify an NCR-registered debt counsellor.

Complaints about a debt counsellor go to the NCR: [email protected] or 0860 627 627. Complaints about a credit provider or a credit bureau listing go to the National Financial Ombud (NFO), which took over the Credit Ombud on 1 March 2024. The NFO is free and can help once you have complained to the provider or bureau first. Its number is 0860 800 900. The NFO does not list debt counsellors as participants, so counsellor complaints belong with the NCR.

There is no simple way to cancel debt review once you have applied. Since Van Vuuren v Roets in 2019 and the NCR Withdrawal Guidelines effective 7 March 2022, a consumer cannot voluntarily withdraw, and no court can rescind a debt review order. The old withdrawal status was switched off from 7 March 2022.

The exit is a section 71 clearance certificate. It is issued once the debts in your plan are paid, or once your short-term debts are paid and the only debt left is a home loan that is up to date under the order. Vehicle finance counts as a short-term debt, so it must be paid first. The counsellor has seven days to issue the certificate after you qualify, and you can ask the National Consumer Tribunal to review a refusal.

A few situations end debt review another way. If the Magistrate's Court finds that you are not over-indebted, the review ends. If you did not apply at all, complain to the NCR. A sequestration or liquidation order ends it too. Separately, you may move to a different counsellor at any stage. The 60 business day period does not restart, a new counsellor may not charge you again for an application, administration, restructuring or legal fee you have already paid, and fees for work actually done must be settled before the transfer.

See how to cancel debt review and the clearance certificate for more.

Be careful with anyone who offers to "remove" debt review for a fee. NCR Circular 2 of 2025 explains that under section 126A(3) a person offering to remove information from a credit bureau or improve a credit record may not be paid until the service has been performed.

Debt Rescue says debt review typically lasts 3 to 5 years, depending on your situation. Ask your counsellor how long your own plan will run, in writing. Beyond the length:

• You cannot apply for more credit while you are under debt review. From the day you apply you must not take on new credit agreements, other than a consolidation agreement.
• There is no payment holiday. You must pay as advised from the start of the process.
• Your credit providers must keep reporting your payment history to the credit bureaus, so keep paying as agreed. The NCR says the debt review flag is not a negative listing or blacklisting. It is an indicator that you are under debt counselling.
• If you default on your payments, a credit provider may terminate the application on that agreement and take legal steps.
• A counsellor may suspend services if you do not cooperate or do not pay their fees.

The upside is legal protection while you keep paying as agreed, and one reduced payment instead of several.